Jon Stewart Stole My Beard

and to my shock and great amusement, Jon has a salt-and-pepper goatee that looks very much like my own!

I looked in at other blogs and sites to see what people are saying, and was reminded that both Conan O’Brien and David Letterman grew some facial hair during the tv writers’ strike, around 2007. So the precedent is there. But is Jon trying to make a statement like the other two, or a fashion statement, or did he just do it ’cause he feels like it and his kids get a kick out of it.

It’s a brave, bold move for a guy who makes his living in front of a camera four times a week. But in my humble opinion, it’s also a smart move. A beard adds gravitas. Credibility. Unless one is homeless –or a hipster stinking of patchouli (and no, that’s not a personal confesion, people) — in which cases facial hair can be off-putting.

As a goatee-wearer on and off (mostly on) for over a dozen years now, I can vouch for the trade-offs:

strangely, I get a bit of dandruff in my beard, even though I never get it on top

I grew it originally to “strengthen” my chin and hide the chubby in my neck… not that I have true waddle, but I’ve never been called svelte. But I have to cover my family trait: a cleft chin, of medium depth, inherited from Dad.